"The decision to close the property was not made easily and follows many months of operational adjustments, significant negotiations and work with union leadership, negotiations relative to adjustments in real estate taxes, and ongoing funding to maintain operations in hopes of some market recovery," a spokesperson for the hotel and waterpark says. "Given the state of the economy in the Chicagoland market and the continued falloff in local business travel and corporate markets, it is not economically viable to continue with hotel operations."

The 65,000-square-foot CoCo Key water park was built three years ago for $25 million. As reported by GlobeSt.com, Hotel owner an affiliate of Denver-based Sage Hospitality Resources LLC, purchased the hotel in 2005 for nearly $20 million and then commissioned the water park to be built. It opened in 2006.

The hotel was built in 1969 and has passed between a number of owners since that time. It sits on 20 acres next to the Arlington Park Racecourse and is 11 miles from O'Hare International Airport.

CoCo Key Water Resorts operates nine additional water parks throughout the country and has plans to add a tenth location in Orlando during the spring of 2010. Other parks are located in Kansas City, MO; Cincinnati; Columbus, OH; Boston; Omaha; NE and Waterbury, CT.